Awakening

Stirring from her slumber Sarah slowly got up from the bed she had been laying in for the past two weeks. Confused, Sarah looks around herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"Mistress/Big sis" Huo and Ming'er shouted out at the same time seeing her suddenly shoot up from her sleeping position.

Confused at the current scenario as she was pretty sure that she should have a dagger in her side.

"How long have I been out?" Sarah asked as the last thing she remembered was falling unconcious after making it back to the mansion.

"Mistress, you have been asleep for a little over two weeks" Huo stated as she wiped away the tears of relief that had fallen to her cheeks.

Sarah was startled as she didn't expect that she was actually asleep for that long however her face quickly took on its normal cold visage. The next question is what threw off Huo and Ming'er.

"Huo. Why am I naked?" This time Sarah's tone had a slight chill to it however it was still better than the reaction she would have had if she had been in this position before she had cleared her heart's demons.

"M-M-Mist-Mistress. Tian Long and Jian journeyed to procure a herb for you to recover. During the time you were unconcious I learned medicinal practice from an elder. However the use of this herb was to make a powder which would be made into tea and to also make a paste which needed to be applied to your meridians... which is why you are currently naked. B-B-But don't worry mistress I kicked out Tian Long and Jian before they could see anything." Huo quickly explained speaking as fast as she could as she could feel a chill runnning down her spine as Sarah stared at her which made her feel like her soul was being frozen over.

"Hmmmm... Very Well. Where are Tian Long and Jian right now?" Sarah let it go since it was for medical purposes however she was curious where Tian Long and Jian were currently.

Sarah got up from the bed and then materialised her clothes once again, excluding the veil since she was people that she knew. It was at this point that Ming'er could no longer contain herself as she threw herself into Sarah's chest and started bawling her eyes out about how it was all her fault and that she was sorry. Huo looked on gently as she knew that Ming'er had been bottling up all that grief for the past week.

Huo's eyes then took on a melancholy look as she had to break the news about Jian's arm before she saw him.

"Mistress." Huo's melancholoy affected her tone when speaking, so much so, that Sarah could tell right away that something had happened.

"Yes, are you ok? What happened?" Sarah replied by asking more questions as she knew that something personal had to have happened for someone to adopt such a melancholic tone.

"I-I-It's J-J-Jian. H-His a-a-arm." Huo stuttered as she tried to tell her mistress about Jian however although it would seem easy to say from an outsiders perspective, for someone who is personally affected even bringing the subject up would bring forth emotions that would make them unable to continue.

"Jian? His arm? What about Jian's arm?" Sarah was beginning to feel a sense of foreboding as she continued to ask further.

"H-His a-arm. I-I-It's gone." As she finished her sentence Huo looked down as she didn't know what her mistress' reaction would be when she heard that, all for her sake, Jian had sacrificed an arm.

"What do you mean 'It's gone'?" This time Sarah's tone was a lot colder as the bad feeling within her heart increased.

"D-D-During t-the time t-that t-they were out procuring the herb for you, Jian was ambushed by a beast and lost his left arm." As time went on Huo began to stutter less, she could also feel a chill begin to manifest itself in the room.

Huo had looked up only to see a face of utter rage as she thought about the time they have spent with each other and the aspirations that Jian himself worked towards. Sarah's face then quickly became a look of self guilt as she began to blame herself for what happened to Jian as he would not have had to go out to procure the herb if she hadn't been careless and let that assassin impale her with that dagger.

"Take me to him." Sarah stated as she put Ming'er down on the bed as she had thoroughly cried herself to sleep at this point.

"Bu..." Huo was about to retort when Sarah quickly interupted.

"Take me to him. Now." Sarah took on a very cold and demanding tone as she then beagn to head for the door with a very reluctant Huo. However Huo herself could not go against the wishes of Sarah as she herself had stated that she would become her maid meaning that, for her, Sarah's orders were absolute.

"Very well mistress. Follow me." Huo sighed and then proceeded to lead Sarah to the temporary room which Tian Long and Jian had taken residence of.